Powerslave
[ All ] [ PlayStation ] [ SEGA Saturn ]
Critic Reviews 84% add missing review
Computer and Video Games (CVG) ( )
Exhumed must be the longest-lasting single-player corridor game ever, not only because it's so tough but also because it gives players loads to find even after they've finished it. The graphics are excellent, the sound is amazing, the control is fantastic and the level design is so good that there aren't any words to do it justice. Exhumed is essential to all Saturn and PlayStation owners after a challenge and is one of the best action adventures yet. Fantabulous!
May 1997 · PlayStation · read reviewAbsolute Playstation (9 out of 10)
Powerslave, as it is called in the US, is truly a next generation DooM style game. The only other PlayStation game currently released that is in the same class as this one is Disruptor. The stacked level designs are amazingly executed and original. I really enjoyed the challenge and playability of this game. Graphics and sound effects are top notch and convincing. The weapons are awesome, the creatures devastating and the overall atmosphere of the game is gripping. If this is the direction that future DooM clones will be taking, sign me up - I'm in!
Apr 1997 · PlayStation · read reviewGamePro (US) (4.5 out of 5)
For the most part, the controls are very responsive. The only problem is the jumps, which are so loose you have to look down to ensure a safe landing. Corridor-shooter fans will definitely be enslaved by the Power of this game.
Feb 1997 · PlayStationMega Fun (88 out of 100)
Exhumed ist ein Ego-Shooter bei dem alles stimmt. Steuerung, Grafik und Sound sind derart perfekt abgestimmt und durchdacht, daß ich mir die Frage stellte: Was will man mehr? Exhumed ist außerdem vom Spielaufbau wunderbar abgemischt. Wo bei anderen Shootern gemetzelt und geballert wird (nicht, daß wir damit Probleme hätten, aber es langweilt auf Dauer), muß man hier die Levels ausgiebig erkunden und sich erst einmal einen Überblick verschaffen. Hat man diesen, gilt es gezielt zwischen den Levels hin und her zu reisen, um alle Geheimnisse zu finden. Klasse! Der einzige Frustmoment, den ich hinnehmen mußte war, als mir nach langen durchzockten Nächten der Abspann entgegen flimmerte. Auf alle Fälle wandert die Scheibe in meine Sammlung, und da bin ich eigentlich sehr wählerisch. Abschließend möchte ich noch zwei Worte in Richtung Lobotomy Software loslassen: Mehr davon!
Mar 1997 · PlayStationQuebec Gamers (8.7 out of 10)
Lobotomy Software, qui avait auparavant fait un travail remarquable en portant Duke Nukem 3D sur Saturn, nous offre en PowerSlave une pièce d'histoire qui n'a jamais été appréciée à sa juste valeur. Tout est merveilleusement balancé dans ce jeu, et le sentiment de progression est hautement satisfaisant du début à la fin pour offrir une expérience mémorable. C'est un FPS qui risque de plaire même à ceux qui n'aiment pas normalement les FPS. C'est un des jeux les plus importants que j'ai découverts ces dernières années, et il représente parfaitement la raison pour laquelle j'aime autant découvrir des jeux moins connus, car certains s’avèrent être de véritables trésors.
Jan 27th, 2014 · PlayStation · read reviewVideo Games (85 out of 100)
Alle Achtung! Ich bin mächtig beeindruckt vom Eifer seitens Lobotomy Software, das Shooter-Highlight weiter zu verbessern, statt wie üblich einfach eine Konvertierung mit minimalem Aufwand zu betreiben. In der PS-Version von Exhumed stecken genug neue Rätsel und Designs, um selbst Leute, die die SAT- Variante durchgezockt haben, wieder vor den Screen zu fesseln. Exhumed sieht jetzt noch besser aus, besitzt einen Top-Soundtrack, ist maximal ausgestattet bezüglich Waffen, zu findenden Artefakten, Schlüsseln, Life Bars und Funkgerätteilen und kitzelt mächtig Eure Nerven, sollte Euch unter Wasser mal wieder die Luft knapp werden oder Eure Balance-Übung über der alles vernichtenden Lava zum Drahtseilakt werden. An Kritik zum Spiel selbst fällt mir nur die etwas unübersichtliche Karte ein, die leider nicht scrollbar ist. Exhumed ist ein Must-have!
Mar 1997 · PlayStationGamesCollection (8.5 out of 10)
PowerSlave è due giochi del tutto diversi: se su PC non ha lasciato il segno per un buon motivo ed è consigliato solo a chi voglia collezionare qualunque FPS esistente, su console è un titolo pregevole che ha da insegnare anche a molti prodotti più recenti, nonostante alcuni evidenti limiti. I voti si riferiscono ovviamente a quest’ultima versione. Peccato che il sistema su cui ha lasciato più il segno sia stato anche il più sfortunato, il Saturn: grazie alla qualità dello SlaveDriver, Lobotomy si vide affidare le conversioni di Quake e Duke Nukem 3D e sul 32 bit Sega, per le quali usò una versione potenziata del suo motore (una conversione PS1 di Quake non andò oltre i primi stadi di produzione). Subito dopo fu acquistata da Crave Entertainment e sopravvisse poco, senza fare in tempo a concretizzare i progetti per un seguito di PowerSlave.
Jun 9th, 2010 · PlayStation · read reviewPlay Magazine (84 out of 100)
If you're prepared to accept that Exhumed is little more than a thoroughly enjoyable giblet-spilling, entrail-roasting slug-fest, unfettered by any moral pretensions but littered with simplistic, yet fiendishly-designed traps and switches to frustrate and hinder, then you're in for a real treat.
1997 · PlayStationNowGamer (8.4 out of 10)
If you’re prepared to accept that Exhumed is little more than a thoroughly enjoyable giblet-spilling, entrail-roasting slug-fest, unfettered by any moral pretensions but littered with simplistic, yet fiendishly-designed traps and switches to frustrate and hinder, then you’re in for a real treat. That’s right, this is another trip down memory lane, but with a few next generation trimmings to give this tired old formula added impetus. Good fun.
Oct 1st, 1996 · PlayStation · read reviewEdge (8 out of 10)
A first-person 3D shoot 'em up, Exhumed confidently flaunts its Doom influences from the word go. Here, though, that's not such a bad thing.
Apr 1997 · PlayStationOfficial UK PlayStation Magazine (8 out of 10)
A crafted, atmospheric 3D shoot 'em up with a fine engine and excellent visuals. Exhumed isn't wildly original, but at times it's incredibly tough.
1997 · PlayStationGame Players (7.7 out of 10)
The game features some interesting power-ups, including high-jumping and under-water breathing. It's competent and enjoyable, but in this saturated genre, Powerslave fails to outpower Distruptor or Alien Trilogy.
Jun 1997 · PlayStationHigh Score (3 out of 5)
Det här spelet är inget att hetsa upp sig över, men för utsvultna Doom-älskare funkar det utan tvivel.
Apr 1997 · PlayStationPlayer Reviews
One of the PS1's best games
by Luke Kavanagh (3)
The Good
At the start of this game, you have naught but a machete in hand, and an intriguing stone building before you. A few hours in, you're jumping (and soon, gliding) across precarious platforms, swimming through gloomy caves and silent sunken temples, sprinting through hails of fireballs and blasting monsters, inanimate objects and suspicious-looking walls into tiny, tiny pieces: all the while guided by the epic voice of Don LaFontaine. This is Exhumed: a game so ahead of its time that we didn't see its like until Metroid Prime.
The various weapons and powerups are great fun to use, and it's always satisfying to discover a new one (bombs, for example) and with it discover new areas in previous levels (say by levelling a wall). As your repertoire increases, so too do the levels become more varied: with more platforming, swimming or action sequences in different areas. There's plenty to do as well - a shrill bleeping will alert you to pieces of a transmitter array, dotted around the game-world, that serve an important purpose; and the most persistent of players will find little effigies of the development team dispersed throughout the game, which give completionists more reason still to revisit earlier levels with new abilities in a bid to unearth the elusive collectibles.
The difficulty curve is pitched quite nicely, as each level in turn is difficult at first, but easy with practise. Deaths are rarely cheap: you can get the hang of any bit of the game with practise. That said, the game can get very unforgiving: it is there to be conquered as much as experienced. This game has aged remarkably well: whilst weapons and enemies are sprites, they are rich in detail (and, visually, stand up far better than 3D characters of the time); and the levels still look decent, if basic and a little rough. Most areas are dripping with atmosphere, helped in no small part by the game's fantastic soundtrack.
The Bad
Like I said, your mileage may vary on the difficulty. Later levels certainly can prove frustrating, as there are no checkpoints: dying will restart the level, with the health and items you entered with.
Pre-dating analogue control, this game uses tank controls (to look about requires a button to be held down): and so the action aspect of the game hasn't aged nearly as well as other facets of the gameplay. The game also suffers lag at times, when a great number of enemies are killed simultaneously or a particularly large piece of architecture is destroyed.
Having only played the PS1 edition, I cannot comment on other versions.
The Bottom Line
Don't approach this game as you would a first-person shooter: the gunplay is far overshadowed by the adventure and platforming elements. Nothing short of epic at the time, it remains a brilliant, and nearly unique, game.
Jan 30th, 2012 · PlayStation
Contributors to this Entry
Critic reviews added by Tim Janssen, Scaryfun, Big John WV, Patrick Bregger, Alsy, Riemann80, Apogee IV, Skitchy, Parf.